andrew rankin



UNITED vSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREY RANKIN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,406, dated May 22, 1860.

To aZZwhom Lt may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW RANKIN, of the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mortise-Locks; and I do hereby declare the following to he a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates toan improvement in that class of mortise locks which have key holes on both sides so that the bolt may be operated both from the inside and outside of the door and my improvement conj sists in a supplementary tumbler `having a spring, certain projections, and a shoulder,

in combination with a spring and stop connected to the case of the lock the whole, with the bolt, being arranged for joint action in the manner described hereafter, thereby enabling the occupant of the room to lock himself in free from the intrusion of parties desirous of gaining access from the outside, and at the same time enabling the possessor of the key or master key to lock and unlock the door from the outside as long as it remains unlocked from the inside.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation.

On reference to the accompanying drawing which forms a part of this specicationw Figure l is* an interior view of a` mprtise lock having my improvement. Fig. 2 the same with some of the operating parts removed. F ig. 3 the same as Fig. 2 with the operating parts in a different position. Fig. e a sectional view on the line 1, 2 Fig. l and Fig. 5 a detached view of part of my improvement.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A is the case or body of the lock and a a its Hanges by which it is secured to the edge of the door.

B is the bolt operated by the handle of the door, one end of this bolt sliding in a slot in the front end of the case and being jointed at its opposite end to an arm C which is hung to a pin b in the case, a hollow spindle I) with its two projections e e, being arranged to operate the arm C and draw the bolt B in or allow it to move out by the action of the spring f according to the direction in which the handles, connected to the hollow spindle, may be turned.

E is the retaining bolt of thelock sliding at one end in the front edge of the lock and at the opposite end in a projection Z in the case. In front of `this retaining bolt is the tumbler F having at one end a pilrh and having at the opposite end a projection which Iits into the recess ofthe bolt when the latter is drawn in,`and into a notch j when the bolt is moved out. In the under edge of the bolt are two recesses and y,

the former being arranged `to receive the key inserted into the keyhole shown in red lines from the inside of the-door, and the recess y for receiving the key inserted into a different key-hole from the outside of the door.

The above described parts are similar in construction and operation to those of ordinary mortise locks `and therefore require no further explanation.

To the pin t which carries one end of the usual tumbler F I hang a supplementary tumbler G, of the peculiar form illustrated, a projection Z on this tumbler being adapted to tit a notch a, in the upper edge of the bolt E@ A spring p attached to the case of the lock bears against a shoulder g on this supplementary tumbler and tends toretain it in one of the positions which it is caused to assume. Another spring 1 is attached `to the tumbler and during one of lthe movements of the latter bears against apin s and tends to restore the tumbler `to the position in which it is retained by the spring p. The lower edge of the supplementary tumbler is provided with two projections and u'which will be more particularly alluded to hereafter. Supposing this tumbler Gr to be in the position illustrated in Fig. 2, where it is held by the spring p, and supposing it to be necessary to lock and unlock the door from the outside. The key is inserted into the keyhole c and will act on either one side or the other of the. recess y of the bolt, according 'to the direction in which the key may be turned and in which the bolt has to be moved. The movement of the bolt by means of a key inserted into the keyhole on the outside of the door does not disturb the position of the supplementary tumbler G, as the latter is eifectually retained in a position with its projection Z elevated above the notch n in the edge of the bolt, by the spring p. When the key is applied from the inside of the door however the case is different.

As seen in Fig. l the bolt is drawn back the supplementary tumbler Gr in its elevated position and the key inserted into the lock from the inside of the door and partially turned. When the key has assumed the position seen in Fig. 2, the bolt has been projected partially outward and the key has been brought in contact with the projection u of the tumbler G. As the key is turned from this position in the direction of the arrow, the tumbler G will be turned Vdown simultaneously with the outward movement of the bolt E so that by the time the latter has reached its destination the projection Z of the tumbler has taken its place in the notch n of the bolt, inwhich position it is retained by the spring p which is so formed and so arranged in respect to the shoulder g of the tumbler that itacts equallyI well as a retainer, whether the tumbler be in the position shown in Fig. 2 or that shown in Fig. 3. The bolt is now so held that it cannot be moved back by a key inserted into the keyhole la from the outside of the door, the unlocking of which is solely under the control of the occupant of the apartment on the inside of the door. It will be observed that when the door is thus locked from the inside the projection t (Fig. 3) is directly opposite to the recess m of the bolt E so that when' the door, the projection u of the supple-y mentary tumbler will occupy a position directly over the recess :c of the bolt and would consequently-interfere with the action of the key when the door had to be unlocked from the inside, but for the rounded side of the said projection against which the key applied to unlock the door will bear in Fig. 2. Immediately after the door has been unlocked from the inside it is necessary that the tumbler be restored to its former position. This is accomplished by the spring r'which was just bearing against the stop s before the tumbler was raised above the position shown in Fig. 2, but which, now that the tumbler is released, forces the latter down to its original position as determined byI the retaining spring p.

It will now be seen without further description that when the occupant of the room has locked himself in he-is the only party who can control the bolt and is free from all intrusion from parties who might desire to gain access to the room from the outside. My invention therefore dispenses with the necessity of having a supplementary bolt and locking device with which locks of this class are generally furnished. It will also be seen that as long as the door remains unlocked from the inside, the chamberma'id or other attendant whose duties call herto the room during the absence of the occupant can lock and unlock the door from the outside with the usual master key.

I do not claim broadly a check tumbler that acts when the door is locked from the inside and is turned out of the way while the lock is operated from the outside; but

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The supplementary tumbler, its spring 1, its projections and u and shoulder g all of the form herein described, in combination with the spring p and stop s the whole with the bolt being arranged for joint action as and for the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specication before two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREW RANKIN. 

